Programs designed to increase the number of baccalaureate degree holders in Wisconsin will see a funding spike with the announcement of $500,000 in state funding Thursday.
The Committee on Baccalaureate Expansion, a working group representing the University of Wisconsin System and the Wisconsin Technical College System, made recommendations on how the two higher education systems could work collaboratively for more four-year degree holders in the state.
The state funding, half of what was originally requested, will be split between seven chosen programs.
"I think growing the number of baccalaureate degree holders is critical [for Wisconsin] to be successful in the knowledge economy," UW System spokesperson Doug Bradley said. "We're pretty excited about the possibilities and potential of these programs."
Meredith Helgerson, spokesperson for the state Department of Revenue, noted the importance of increasing the number of degree holders in the state, as Wisconsin is currently 3 percent below the national average.
According to Helgerson, the state would need to graduate 72,000 more students by 2010 to reach the national average.
"Wisconsin has been falling in the national ratings … to where now [the state] is 35th in the country," Regent Charles Pruitt said. "We really need to turn that around."
The programs selected to receive funding mainly target the adult and working population with strategies to make returning to and finishing school more feasible for those with time and distance constraints.
"We do a great job targeting the 18- to 23-year-olds, but we don't do as good of a job with the older population," Bradley said. "Adults need to have access to formats that will fit their schedules and demands."
The collaborative programs between the UW System and WTCS, designed primarily for older working adults to finish a degree after having dropped out or to supplement an associate degree, will begin to receive funding in the 2006-07 academic year.
Those programs include:
– NEW ERA Bachelor of Applied Studies Degree, a program through UW-Green Bay and UW-Oshkosh which builds upon existing nontraditional degree programs at those campuses
– Four joint programs between UW-Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Area Technical College to aid degree completion for students in health care, nursing, business and engineering
– UW-Stout COBE Initiative, providing more flexible degree options for place-bound and working students with an emphasis on distance-learning and online classes
– UW North Central Consortium Project, an alliance between UW-Stevens Point and the UW-Marathon County and UW-Marshfield/Wood County two-year campuses
– Graduation Project, a pilot project at UW-Oshkosh designed to encourage students who left the campus to finish their degrees
– Baccalaureate Completion Project, a partner program between UW-Superior and UW Colleges which helps with degree completion for students who left the school with junior standing
– UW System Adult Student Outreach Pilot Proposal, a collaborative effort between UW-Extension's Higher Education Location Program and WTCS to provide outreach, electronic services and advising to prospective adult students
According to Bradley, an implementation committee will decide where the funding dollars will go; some programs will receive more than others to ensure the "biggest bang for the buck."
Some of the programs are already in progress, such as the pilot program at UW-Oshkosh, while others will commence with the promise of funding.
"For all kinds of reasons, the adult students in particular are more in need of weekend, evening and other types of classes … because they are somewhere out in the workforce," Pruitt said. "We need to do a better job of reaching out to them."
